Fla. Dems aim at voting blunders

12/4/12 11:44 AM EST

Another election marked by long lines and an assortment of other voting and election administration-related problems has Florida’s out-of-power Democrats convinced they hold the commanding heights on the most talked about issue in the state.

As they gathered Monday in a caucus room in Tallahassee, Democrats had one thing on their minds: how to maintain ownership of the hottest issue in the state now. That is, protecting the right to vote and holding Republicans accountable for long lines, delayed ballot counts and an expansion of provisional ballots.

The election may be over, but the fight over how the election was managed has only just begun.

"The people are counting on us to drive this debate and win it," said Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. He's the House sponsor of a bill to return to 14 days of early voting and to expand early voting sites far beyond what Republicans have allowed.

The battle to enact voting rights and election administration reforms – and assess blame for 2012 – is a high-stakes endeavor for both parties, but especially for Florida Democrats in the wake of a highly successful election cycle.

Looming in 2014 is a mid-term election in which the GOP typically holds an advantage in terms of the composition of the Florida electorate – an election where Democrats won’t have the Obama engine powering their turnout efforts. To build on the party’s 2012 advances, Democrats will need to keep the base energized and expand the electorate to take advantage of demographic trends that are working in their favor.